Sand line spooler



L. F. TUEL SAND LINE SPOOLER Filed Nov. 12, 1948 .Jan, 17, 1950INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 17, 1950 UNITED TATES PAT or 'FI CE 2,495,039 SANDLINESPQOLER "Lew'is Tuel, Bakersfield, .Calif. Application flovem'ber 12,1:948,2Seria1lN0. 59,6t9

.3 Claims. 1

My general purpose is to provide a :sand line SDooler or layering:device for application to! hoisting winches which are used in thedrilling of 'oil wells. Since oil well drilling operations requireparticularly close supervision and attention on the part :of theoperators it is a primary objective ofmy-invention to supply adevioewhich may be quickly and accurately manually controlled and opera-ted byany member of the well drilling crew.

An important object of my invention is to supply a device which may bereadily attached to an oil field winch and applied to the sand line andwhich requires only .few and simple mounting operations and the :use ofsuch tools as are ordinarily on hand during a Well drilling job.

Another object of my invention is to provide a {device which may beeasily adjusted to right or left side location of the manually operablecontrol station or may be adjusted to location of a controlstationeither at the front or towards the rear of :the hoisting winch.

.A further purpose of my invention is that of providin a device :inwhich the hazard and danger to the operator of being entangled with thefast-running and slippery sand line is eliminated and safeguardedagainst by locating the manual controlled stationadjacent to and.outside of the immediate area of the moving sand line and revolvingreels.

An additional purpose of my invention is to supply a sand line spoolerwhich is designed or constructed from readily obtainable .andinexpensive materials and thus in combination with the easeofinstallation and. operation result ,in

marked economy of manufacture and use.

Additional objects and advantages will be .apparent from the followingdescription considered in conjunction with the accompanying sheet ofdrawings or from both as supplements of each other, wherein are setforth certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and functions.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings forming .a part of thesespecifications, and in which like numerals are employed to designatelike parts:

Figure 1 is a rear View in perspective showing the spooler generally asapplied to a hoisting winch with the sand line extending therefrom inthe direction of the crown block of the drilling tower.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the sand line spooler assembly.

Figurefi is a front elevation of the same.

Figure 4 is a partial cross sectional view of the sand line guidingsleeve and clamping frame.

Figure 5 is a detailed elevation of a corner post indicating the methodof adjustable attachment.

Referring nowin detail to Figures 1.2, ..4and 5 wherein for purposes .ofillustration areshown preferred embodiments of my invention, the.numeral it indicates .a standard type .of hoisting winch to which :issecured the spooler assembly 7 with a sand line ;8 extending throughguiding sleeve .9. I

The basic frame of my device consists of ihe left side member Inprovided with holes .at each endin which are bolts Hi and t5 securelyfastening member in to the rear member 42 and the front member .13. To:the right :ends of members 1.2 and 4.3 is secured right side member H-.by bolts t6 and 1.8 adjustably sliding in slots 1.1 and is of memberLl. Adjusting screw :2}! working in nut .21 secured to front member 13and adjusting screw ;22 working in nut 23 secured .to rear member 12 areprovided for the purpose of increasing .or decreasing the spacedrelationship between left side member 11! and rig-htside-merhher 4!.Rear supporting posts 24 and .25 releasab-ly secured ,to hoisting winch:6 and from supporting posts .26 .and 21 also releasably secured tohoisting winch .6 are of such relative length that my device whenproperly attached to and supported .on the hoisting winch 5 is in asubstantially horizontal and level position.

At suitable locations on left and right ,side members L0 and H aresecured front bearing plates 28 .and 29 and rear bearing plates 3,0 ,and3.1. Arsquare sided shaft 32 rotatably v.io -u'naled in bearings 28 and:36 is provided at its ;.rea-r -s ee- .tion with a square sidedconnection stub -33 and at its from section with .a square sidedcon-nection stub 3.4. To front section connection stub 34 .is securelylocked, by {means of :a zcotter pin, universal joint 35 to which issecurely fastened extension shaft 36 provided with a hand wheel 3.1. Around .shaft 3.8 is lrotatablyjoiirnaled in bearings 29 and 31.

The position of the square sided shaft .32 at the left side of thehoisting winch permits operation of the .hand wheel .31 either .at therfront as shown, or at the rear of the hoisting winch if the universaljoint 35 is attached to the gear connection stub 33. By reversing theposition of the basic frameland "thus exchanging the location-of.thesguare sided shaft 32 from the lleft to the right side of thehoisting winch .6, ;it is possible to obtaineither operation. of thespooler from ,the right side front by securely connecting the universaljoint .35 to connection :Stub 33, "or operation of the ,spooler from:the right side ,rear by -secure1 y connecting the universal joint .35to connection stub 34.

Slidi-n-g yfreely .from the front to rthe rear pm the square sided shaft32 is the left side spool 39 which is provided with a square sided boreloosely fitting the square sided shaft 32 and is also provided with aleft hand cable groove 40 in-which is located a cable clamping bolt 4|.Sliding freely from the front to the rear on the round shaft 38 is theright side spool 42 which is provided with a round bore loosely fittinground shaft 38 and is also provided with a right hand cable groove 43. Acable 44 is wrapped around the right side spool 42 in the right handcable groove 43 and extends to and is wrapped around the left side spool39 in the left hand cable groove 40 in which it is securely clamped byclamping bolt 41 in order to prevent slippage. The left side free endsection 45 of cable 44 is looped through cable perforation 46 in guidingsleeve clamp 41 and is tightly secured therein by means of cable clamp48. The right side free end section 49 of cable 44 is looped throughcable perforation 50 in guiding sleeve clamp 4'1 and is tightly securedtherein by means of cable clamp Guiding sleeve clamp 41 consists ofidentical sections each provided with a half-round concave depression52, cable perforations 46 and '50 and perforations 53, 54, 55 and 5B forbolt and nut assembly 51. Within the concave depressions 52 of guidingsleeve clamp 41 are tightly secured guiding sleeves of assembly 9, whichconsists of identical semicircular exterior sleeves 58 which areprovided with bosses 59 in order to prevent the guiding sleeve 41 fromslipping ofi the guiding sleeve assembly 9. Secured by means of flanges60 and positioned within the exterior sleeves '58 are insidesemicircular sleeves 6| constructed of non-sparking metal or othersuitable material.

In order to use my sand line spooler in guiding a sand line while beingwound or unwound from the hoisting winch reel my device is attached tothe winch and adjusted so that the hand wheel will be positioned at thedesired location. The guiding sleeve is then assembled around the sandline and when the sand line is in operation the guiding sleeve willassume its correct longitudinally and angularly spaced position in linewith the taut sand line, and the operator by rotating the hand wheelthen brings the guiding sleeve to its correct transverse position inrespect to the taut sand line. As the sand line is being wound up orunwound the operator at the hand wheel moves the guiding sleeve in theappropriate transverse direction to' closely and evenly lay on or removethe sand line from the winch reel and by carefully adjusting therotation speed of the hand r wheel is able to keep the guidingsleeve inthe correct position for properly layering the sand line.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with. a Winch having a rotating sand line drum, aspooling device consisting of; a substantially rectangular framestructure; removable supporting posts of differing lengths secured tothe front and rear sections of said rectangular frame structure;bearings secured to the left and right side members of said rectangularframe structure; a shaft provided with a rectangular center sectionrotatably secured in said leftside bearings; a spool closely fitting andencircling said rectangular central section and adapted to slide freelyfrom front to rear of said rectangular central section of said shaft; ahand wheel attached to said shaft; said spool provided with left handhelical grooves; a shaft provided with a round central section rotatablysecured in said right side bearings; a spool loosely fitting andenclosing said round central section and adapted to slide freely fromfront to rear of said round central section of said shaft; said spoolprovided with right hand helical grooves; a cable connecting said spoolsand riding in said right and left hand helical grooves; a sand lineguiding sleeve connected to the end sections of said cable; said guidingsleeve adapted to control the layering of T said sand line on saidrotating sand line drum upon manual operation of said hand wheel.

2. A spooler for attachment to a winch having a sand line winding andunwinding drum comprising; a base frame releasably secured to saidwinch; a rotatable spool having right hand helical grooves secured tosaid base frame; a rotatable spool having left hand helical groovessecured to said base frame in parallel spaced relationship with saidrotatable spool having right hand helical grooves; a cable connectingsaid rotatable spools and riding in said right and left hand helicalgrooves; a sand line guiding sleeve secured to said cable; manual meansattached to said rotatable spools and adapted to move said sand lineguiding sleeve in a reciprocating rectilinear line of motion wherebysaid sand line is evenly and closely layered upon said winding andunwinding drum.

3. In combination with a winch having a reel for winding and unwinding asand line; an angle iron rectangularly shaped mounting base; supportingposts adjustable as to length releasably attached to said mounting base;a pair of bearings secured to the left side of said mounting base, ashaft journaled in said pair of bearings, a universal joint releasablyattached to said shaft, a hand wheel secured to said universal joint, arectangularly shaped section provided in the central portion of saidshaft, a spool slideably secured on said rectangularly shaped section ofsaid shaft, left hand helical groove provided in said spool; a pair ofbearings secured to the right side of said mounting base, a shaftjournaled in said pair of bearings, a round shaped section provided inthe central portion of said shaft, a spool slideably secured on saidround shaped section of said shaft, right hand helical groove providedin said spool; a cable threaded on said right and left hand helicalgrooves of said spools, a clamping frame secured to the end sections ofsaid cable, an exterior sleeve section releasably secured in saidclamping frame, an inner sleeve section of non-sparking materialreleasably secured within said exterior sleeve section and surroundingsaid sand line; said mounting base, adjustable length supporting posts,bearings, shafts, hand wheel, right and left hand grooved sleeves,cable, clamping frame, exterior and interior sleeve sections all adaptedupon manual operation of said hand wheel to cooperatively Wrap andunwrap in close and regular spaced helical relationship said sand linewhen being wound or unwound on said reel.

LEWIS F. TUEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,566,641 Bell Dec. 22, 19252,190,880 Moss Feb. 20, 1940

